A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to racks and in particular to a collapsible portable rack suitable for suspending drying clothes or the like.
B. Prior Art
There have been many racks such as clothes-drying racks in the past which have been portable and collapsible. Many of them were made of wood side supports with wood dowels. These racks were rickety and unstable when in their non-collapsed condition, being especially subject to structural deformation when weight or pressure was applied in a vertical plane. Furthermore, the horizontal wooden dowels often became splintery or, if painted, became unsightly after the painted finish came off partially or totally. Being wood, the members also were subjected to structural deformation due to warping. The pins or nails used to connect the wooden cross-members often became loose or became oxidized. This was true even if the wooden dowels were covered with tubular plastic material. It was therefore highly desirable to provide a rack which did not have these defects and which enabled drying clothes, for example, to be firmly held without snagging due to splintering or discoloration due to deterioration of the finish of the supporting dowels or other parts of the rack into which the clothes might come into contact. Furthermore, it was desired to have a rack which maintained structural rigidity yet was light enough to be portable and was easily collapsed for convenient storage. Toward these objects, the present invention is directed.